Kelda’s main subsidiary is Yorkshire Water, which provides water and sewerage services to 4.7 million people and 130,000 businesses in the Yorkshire region. Its activities are regulated by the Water Services Regulation Authority, Ofwat.
Kelda is committed to providing a diverse and inclusive working environment which reflects its diverse customer base. It is integral to the business delivering against its Strategic Business Objectives and to ‘Take responsibility for the water environment for good’. Kelda believe that an innovative and effective Equality and Diversity Strategy is an essential ingredient in maintaining sector leading performance. Kelda promotes equality of opportunity for all its employees and stakeholders.
Our aim is to be as diverse as the community we serve, inclusive of all.
We respect and value ‘individuality and difference’ and are committed to providing a diverse and inclusive working environment which reflects our diverse customer base. We believe that an innovative and effective Equality and Diversity Strategy is an essential ingredient in maintaining sector leading performance. Our Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group has the following key streams: Gender, Ethnicity, Ability and LGBTQ*. This group works towards implementing our Diversity and Inclusion strategy and Action Plan.
We were the first Water company to be accredited the National Equality Standard, we achieved 5 starts in the BITC Corporate Responsibility Index and were in the Times Top 50 Employers for Women 2017.
Our strategy has 4 pillars these are Representation, Inclusion, Capability and Customer Equality.
The Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group support the implementation of the strategy, each stream is colleague led. The streams are:
Ability
Through our ability stream we run supported internships in partnership with the Lighthouse School Leeds, Yorkshires first special free school for students with an autistic spectrum condition.
Ethnicity
Our ethnicity stream has recently created a work insight programme to engage with young ethnic minorities.
The group organised internal and external events for Black History Month, celebrating the hidden histories of the region.
We supported the Asian Business Awards presenting an award and addressing the room around the importance of diversity.
Gender
Through our gender stream we run female development programmes in partnership with Forward Ladies, we also sponsor the women in business awards, and more recently sponsored Women in STEM research. We also run a week of workshops for young female students giving them an insight into Yorkshire Water.
We also have a network of STEM ambassadors who visit and engage with schools.
LGBTQ*
More recently a LGBTQ+ stream was set up by colleagues. As part of this group we plan to celebrate events such as pride.
In addition to this we ensure we stay ahead of best practice and support the wider Diversity and Inclusion agenda. We host the West Yorkshire Diversity Forum, are apart of the Energy and Utility Skills Diversity Network and are a part of the Apprenticeship Diversity Champion Network.
Internally we also celebrate Eid and Diwali with colleagues and encourage colleagues to celebrate a variety of cultural and religious holidays. This year we had a Diversity calendar which included many key celebration dates.
We also have a Diversity and Inclusion stall at our monthly corporate induction to ensure colleagues are aware of our commitment to Diversity and Inclusion.
We are passionate about creating a culture where colleagues can bring their whole self to work, and feel supported in their roles. We want our workforce to reflect the rich diversity of the region.